"I'm a good student now"

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Ardi is often teased by his classmates because of the pink shoes he wears to school.

But ten-year-old Ardi knows that his mother’s job is not well-paid, and she is doing her best to work hard and take care of her family. She was left to care for them alone after Ardi’s father moved abroad to find work.

So Ardi has to wear his sisters’ hand-me-downs.

Ardi’s family live on the outskirts of Durres, Albania. Only the poorest families, who have no choice, would live here. The community they live in is two metres below sea level, without a drainage or sewage system. It frequently floods, and the roads become impassable. Many of the people here are families who moved from rural areas, seeking a better life – but they simply found new forms of poverty.

Ardi and his siblings walk 45 minutes each day to get to school – where he has struggled with reading and with his other school work.

Many children in this community do not receive the educational support they need, and as a result, drop out of school early. However, Ardi and three of his siblings have started receiving educational support at Mission Without Borders’ (MWB) After School project, which started up in Durres in January 2018. At After School club, children are given a hot, nutritious meal to eat, they listen to Bible lessons, enjoy free time as well as time spent on homework, and receive emotional and educational support from the teachers there. Once, Ardi was desperate for the summer holidays to begin because he would be free from school.

It's not easy when you feel unable to help your child...But now, he is excited for a different reason. “This year I couldn't wait to finish either – but that’s because I wanted to see my results!” Ardi said, delighted with how well he has been doing. “Mum did not believe my results until she came to school and met the teacher. The teacher as well as my classmates were all surprised.”

"It’s not easy when you feel unable to help your child,” said Ardi’s mother. “Thanks to the After School club, Ardi has significantly improved and not just in reading, but in the other subjects, too. He is now finishing his homework and he has started to feel good about himself. It relieved me of such a big burden.” Thanks to generous supporters who sponsor families like Ardi’s in Durres, our team are helping children grow and giving them a vision of a future without poverty. Ardi said, “I feel good and I'm happy because I'm a good student now.”